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‘Disconnected’ Epic Games under fire for ‘killing’ Rocket League

‘Disconnected’ Epic Games under fire for ‘killing’ Rocket League
Epic Games | Psyonix

Written by 

Jack Marsh

Published 

11th Oct 2023 15:51

Rocket League has stalled its engine. There are thousands of daily players revving the clutch, but it just won't move. It's stuck, the engine is jammed, and it looks like the road forward is more bleak than ever before.

That's the general consensus coming out of the Rocket League community, and they've just been dealt the biggest car crash catastrophe yet.

Epic Games has announced plans to remove player-to-player trading, and Rocket League fans are absolutely incensed.

Epic Games controversially removes player-to-player trading in Rocket League

Click to enlarge

One of the ways a lot of players are brought into Rocket League is via friends, and the first step is to rig them out with a cool-looking Octane by gifting them some sweet decals and a clean set of wheels. 

Even for long-time players though, trading is a big part of Rocket League life, with Alpha Boost often being passed through the professional community and other hubs of players often gathering to swap items and mimic the presets of their RLCS heroes. 

But Epic Games is now banning player-to-player trading completely.

Taking to a social update, Epic Games said:

"Player-to-Player trading will be removed from Rocket League on December 5.

"We’re making this change to align with Epic’s overall approach to game cosmetics and item shop policies, where items aren’t tradable, transferrable, or sellable. This opens up future plans for some Rocket League vehicles to come to other Epic games over time, supporting cross-game ownership."

Epic Games blasted for 'disconnected' Rocket League approach

 

With the news breaking, Epic Games has been blasted by its player base, who all disagree with this model, especially when games like Counter-Strike are built upon this side-economy.

"How far up the chain did this idea originate from? Like genuinely how disconnected from your community do you have to be to think this was a good idea??" said former world-champion Cameron "Kronovi" Bills.

RLCS star Jack "ApparentlyJack" Benton took an equally languish approach saying, "We have NO idea about next RLCS season. Instead of creating, they're removing one of the biggest attractions for casual players in trading. No communication and when we do get it, it's very rarely good news. Gonna become a variety streamer, we're all jobless soon."

"Got a bunch of melons running this game I swear to god," he added.

Others also noted the recent Epic Games layoffs, making this a very worrisome time to be a Rocket League fan.

"What? that's absolutely horrendous. first the layoffs, now this? what's the point? killing the game?" said recent RLCS bronze medalist Bruno Alexandre "AcroniK." dos Santos Lopes.

Others joked that they'll be removing cars and the ball next, but their jokes only cracked over pain.

The player-to-player trading options will close on December 5, meaning if you do have any items lent to friends, you'll either need to call them back or make them a permanent gift.

Jack Marsh
About the author
Jack Marsh
Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.
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